Want to go extremely fast for extended periods of time? Run a Le Mans 24-hour race, in which each hour is represented by a minute. Day will turn to night and back again as you rush to beat the other cars in your class to the finish line. If you're more into drifting, there are downhill, freestyle and grand prix events to tackle. Touge, tuner, touring, open wheel are all here, too, and each are specifically designed to highlight the special attributes of each class of car in Grid.

In its marketing push for Grid, Codemasters has been using the tagline "It's all about the race," a clever attempt to deflect inevitable criticism. Namely that, compared to some of its competitors, Grid's garage is a bit on the small side. There are 45 cars in Grid. And although they're all top-of-the-line racing powerhouses, their number feels limited at times. Some events have only one car choice, which can be a real downer when your only option is a Chevy Lacetti. You also can't tune your cars in the slightest, so if you crave mode understeer from your Honda NSX-R, you'll have to switch to a Nissan Skyline GT-R Z-Tune instead.

I did find myself wishing there were more cars in Grid, but I don't have many complaints (Lacetti aside) about the vehicles Codemasters chose to include. From the classic but staid BMW 320 SI to the blistering and exotic Audi R10 TDi, Grid features some of racing's modern icons. You can even get behind the wheel of the Mazda 787B, whose rotary engine earned it both fame and infamy in the 1991 Le Mans. Each car class and individual vehicle in Grid handles differently, and driving in general takes some getting used to. The learning curve is steep but brief, which means you'll crash a lot for your first couple of races and then even out soon after. That is, until you switch to open wheel cars, which will start the curve o' learnin' all over again.

It's all about the cockpit view.

But failing a race in Grid can be almost as much fun as winning thanks to an excellent damage system that's capable of crumpling your car into a rolling mass of bustedness. Using the damage modeling developed for DiRT, Codemasters has created the most dramatic racing crash effects we've ever seen in a videogame. Bumpers fall off when tapped too hard, Le Mans prototypes lose their wings and stock cars lose their doors after spectacular rolls.

Take a car into a Jersey barrier at 200 mph. and you'll be treated to a slow-mo cinematic camera effect that captures the impact and makes you feel the crunch in your gut. If you survive a collision but lose a fender, your detritus will remain on the road to harass other drivers until the end of the race. If you're lucky, your car will still function properly, but tough hits will damage your wheels, steering, engine and suspension, affecting your car's handling and performance.

To be clear, Grid is not a racing simulation. Although cars look and often feel realistic, the crashes are over-the top and handling tends more toward the arcade end of the spectrum. Take what TOCA used to be and blend it with DiRT's accessibility and you'll have a good idea of what Grid is trying to accomplish. Depending on the track and car you're racing, you'll glance off walls that would total your ride in a sim.

Car pulling to the left after a particularly nasty crash? If you're playing the game in standard mode, you can use Grid's Flashback function, an instant-replay system that allows you to pause the race, rewind for a brief period and resume the action from that point. It's effectively a time machine that lets you erase your mistakes a limited number of times each race, depending on your difficulty level. But I also found it to be a learning tool that taught me how to take dangerous turns. Flub a curve, rewind using a Flashback, take it again and emerge all the wiser.

Muscle madness.

For those concerned about the Flashback tool breaking the integrity of the game, have no fear. Racing in Pro mode eliminates the Flashback option entirely, and it's the only way to upload lap times to the online leaderboards. So if you want to set records using Flashbacks, you'll be doing so in a vacuum. Get serious in Pro mode, and you'll be glad you did once you dip your toe into the multiplayer. With 12 cars online, full damage optional and (from what we've played) smooth no-lag races, things get very intense very quickly online.

All regions are open online, and there are several events – including drift, Le Mans, and demolition derby – available to race. There's a full lobby system with matchmaking built in, and hosts can choose to turn both damage and catch-up on and off. The networking code is also split between all the racers in the game but will be distributed on the fly if lag rears its ugly head.

Of the three versions of Grid we tested, the PC looked the best. Codemasters gives PC gamers a considerable amount of control over the game's performance with several customization menus. From the level of grass detail to depth of crowd rendering, you can endlessly tweak Grid to your liking on the PC. Grid also fully supports force-feedback racing wheels and allows plenty of customization there as well.

The Verdict

There are plenty of other racing games on the market, but Grid captures the soul of the track like none other. The crashes are insane, the races are intense, the cars are coated with style and the overall presentation is just plain sexy. Although its car count is low, customization is limited and the repetitive dialogue grates a bit, Grid's stands out as a stylish but serious alternative to both hardcore driving simulations and over-the-top arcade racers.